Pitfield 1896 Stock Ale
Pitfield Organic Brewery

 

I picked this up from the Pitfield shop on their closing day. In reading the bottle, the beer is supposedly brewed according to a 1896 recipe! I thought that was pretty cool. There was really no head to speak of with this ale. The color had a pretty deep amber quality that contained some reddish hues. The smells were malty and some hint of spiciness, and a nice but not overpowering yeasty thing going on. Boy was there a big warm alcohol flavor! There was some malt character too and nicely sweet... I didn't find a heck of a lot of hop flavor in this bottle... All in all, a good brew but not one you'd want if you were planning a long evening!

Purchased from the Pitfield Beer Shop. BB: 05/2009.
A: served in a goblet, it pours a slightly hazy, reddish dark amber to light ruby hue, coming with a thick, cappucino like off-white frothy head which sustains pretty well, leaving very tight lacing along the way; mildly carbonated.
S: deeply malty and sweetish fruity--ripe cherries, raisins, cherry syrup, fat and (fine brown) sugary maltiness, woody note, sharply sweet apple-ish note a bit like apple liqueur, faintly coconut powder... all underlined by a bed of perfumy yeast. Overall the complex aroma is wrapped in a thick, liqueur like fruity alcoholic warmish cover, coming powerful, thick and sweetish.
T: thick-textured fruity maltiness caresses the palate, gradually bringing on board a spirit/fortefied wine kind of warmish feeling which intensifies and creeps down the throat in no time, while at the back of the palate the syrupy fruitiness reveals along with a faint trace of creamy toffeeishness, caramel, and a pinch of coconut powder. Slightly spicy aftertaste of hops with good depth of bitterness; finished slightly sticky yet bitter, with overwhelming caramel malty overtone.
M: quite peppery-spicy on the mouthfeel for a 10%abv. malty brew, but the texture proves too sticky to my liking, thankfully not too sharp. The body is just about right to underline the flavour, but I suspect the supposed complexity of the flavour is compromised by the overdone alc.
D: overall, a rare, nice beer to taste, but its overall drinkability could benefit from being packaged in a smaller bottle and perhaps at a slightly weaker alc. strength (say, 7~8%abv.) to better match the flavour profile~~

First of all, this is not a bitter!!! Well certainly doesn't taste like one anyway. Cloudy/murky brown appearance, not much head retention. Very malty, medicinal, herbal and sticky, peppery alcohol in the finish. Different, but not really my style. Too sweet, sticky, with too much alcohol.